Mud pump valve and seat



July 29, 1952 P. M. REA

MUD PUMP VALVE AND SEAT 'e SHEETS- SHEET 1 Filed Feb. 24, 1948 P/ll'l/'P M. Rea.

IN1/EN TOR,

A wm @m MM July 29, 1952 P. M. REA

MUD PUMP VALVE AND SEAT 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Filed Feb. 24, 1948 Ml Rea- JNVENToR,

Patented July 29, 1952 UNITEDA STATES PATENT' OFF [C1515` t aeoaosofv4 ff Y PUMP VALVE AND SEAT @siena M; Rea, oklahoma city,v can;

' Application February 24, 19481, SerialNo. 10,3777v 'The presentrinventionrelates to pumps, and morev particularly to pumps used in connection with rotaryr oil well drilling equipment for circulating the drilling fluid or mud, as itis commonly called.

In drilling wells with rotary equipment,l the drilling fluid is pumped" downwardly to the drill bitaty the well bottom through thedrill-stem string which rotates the bit. The fluid, after leaving thev bit, is forced by the mud-pump to return to thel earths surface via the annular space within the Welland surrounding the drillstem string. v

The purpose of such circulation is not' only to lubricatethe bit and to pre-ventcave-ins, but the drillingv fluid also acts to entrain and carry away detritus created by the bit. In order-to properly entrain sucl detritus, the drilling fluidv must have a specific gravity greater than thatof the detritus', and consequently the iuidifssomewhat vicious in nature.

-Since the drilling operation requires the. continuous movementof Va large volume ofthe drilling fluid, the mud-pump must be capable of delivering' large capacities, and due to the nature of the drilling fluid, the pumps must be'capabie of delivering such capacitiesl at high" pressure.

The result is that the pump valves and their complemental seats are not konly'constantly subjected to thev abrasive action of the drilling uid, but, they are also subjected toa terrific pound-or hammer eachtime theva-lve seats- The principal object of the present invention is to provide amud-pumpv valve and seat'l assembly,l wherein, the hammer= of the valve on theseat is'reduced to av minimum.

Another important object is to provide a valve and seat structure which is so designed that it will alsovwithstand the abrasive actionofthe drilling-fluid by providing ample iiow opening, thereby eliminating unnecessary turmoil as the fluid passes therethrough.

- An vradditional object is to.- provide a mud-pump valve and seat assembly, wherein somev of the drilling fluid is trapped and actsn tocushion the valve, upon each seating movement of the'v valve.

A further object is to provide an assembly of this class, which is so designed that the forces created by the metal to metalv blow of the closing valve',V are dispersed or distributed over a large area of the seat member, thus eliminating most of themetal fatigue now present in many conventional hind-pumpl valve. and seat assemblies.

A still further object is. to providev an assembly, in which the metal'to metal blow is not mm; (ci. 251-128):

only dampened by vtrapped uid, but iniwhich the undampened forces remainingare taken by parts of the assembly other than the complemental seatingsurfaces thereof.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an assembly which will last longer under comparable conditions, than-any conventional valve and seat assembly nowonthemarket.

@ther objects and purposes will be apparent from` the following description, when taken in conjunction withA ther accompanying twosheet's of drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top-view of the valve seat member of the assembly;` l

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the -line 2 2-, Figure l;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View of' the entire assembly, showing thev valvemember at the lower end of its stroke, and illustrating the' sealing elementthereof before it'has been deformed by fluid pressure into sealing engagement with the seat member; and,

Figure 4 is an elevational view Yshowing the valve member in partial vertical section, and showing the seat member in entire vertical section, the-sealing element of the valve being illustra-ted as it appears where deformed by uid pressure into'sealing engagement with the seat surface of the seat member.

Like characters of vreference designate like parts in those igures of the drawingsv inY which they-occur.

Inthe drawings:

The reference1 character A indicates, as a whole, an annularv valve seat member having a downwardly tapered conical exterior surface l adapted to be pressed downwardly into a circular part, not shown, but'which forms a part of a conventional oil eld mud-pump.

As best illustrated in Figure l, the-seat member A hasV la concentrically centered upstanding boss or tablev 2 whichv isr rigidly connected thereto'byA a plurality of' outwardly radiating ribs or webs 3. In'the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, there are three of such webs 3 shown, and consequently, there are provided therebetween three arcuate flow openings 4.

The upper inside surface of the bore ofy the annular seat member A isv machined to form an outwardly iiared annular conical valve seating surface 5.

The table 2 has an axial through bore 6, and the upper surface thereof is preferably bevelled continuously downward from its center' tov its peripheral edge T.

The upper bevelled surface of the table 2 has a plurality of radially extending grooves 8, and each groove 8 terminates at its outer end in communication with the upper end of a vertical slot 9. The slots 9 are machined into the peripheral or side surface of the table 2, and extend therealong the entire vertical length of said table. It is preferable that the peripheral side surface of the table also have an encircling annular indentation l0.

The functions of the grooves 8, the slots 9, and the indentation I will be more fully described hereinbelow. l V

The valve assembly furtherA includes a valve member which is indicated, as a whole, by the reference character B.

The valve member B consists substantially of a heavy metal inverted cup shaped body 20, having an axially located vertical valve stem 2| integral with the floor 22 thereof. The inside surface of the floor or bottom 22 of the inverted cup-'shaped body 20, is bevelled to coincide with the upper surface of the table 2 of the valve seat member A. The cup-shaped body has an annular side wall 23 integral with the outer annular edge portion of the cup bottom 22, and the inside surface of the Wall 23 is of suiicient diameter to barely clear the periphery of the table 2. The stem 2| extends above and below the cupbottom 22 for a considerable distance, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, and its outside surface is equipped with spiral grooves 24. The function of the spiral grooves 24 will be more fully described hereinbelow.

The valve member B further includes yan outwardly projecting annular flange 25 which is integral with the lower edge port ear of the cup wall 23. 'I'he exterior edge surface of the flange 25 is tapered to substantially coincide with the taper of the seating surface 5 of the seat member A. The upper surface of the flange 25 has an upwardly projecting annular rib 26 extending therearound in spaced relation to the outer surface of the cup wall 23.

'Seated upon the upper surface of the flange 25, is a removable annular valve rubber or sealing element 21. The sealing element 21 has an outer bevelled or tapered edge surface 2B, which normally coincides with and forms a continuation of the tapered |edge of the flange. 'I'he innermost surface of the element 21 seats within a suitable groove which is formed in the peripheral surface of the wall 23 of the inverted cupshaped member 20, and a metal ring 29 surrounds the cup wall 23 and seats upon the sealing ring 21, to hold the same in place.

The upper end surface of the metal ring 29 has an annular groove 3|) which lies adjacent its bore. The outer edge of tthe cup-bottom 22 hasnan annulargroove which lies adjacent and communicates with the groove 30 when the ring 29 is in place.` A resilient split metal retaining ring 3| is adapted to be snapped into the groove 30, and when positioned therein, acts t0 retain Y the ring 29 in its installed position.

In assembling the parts of the valve member B, the sealing element 21 is first pressed downwardly over the cup-shaped body 20 until it snaps into the peripheral groove in the outside of the body. I'he ring 29 is then placed upon the sealing element 21, and the retaining ring 3l is then snapped into place.

The groove in the body 20 into which the retaining ring 3| envelope slightly more than one hundred eighty nests, is suiiciently deep to degrees of the cross-sectional diameter of the material of which the ring 3| is formed. The inherent resilient action of the sealing ring 21, which tends to move the ring 29 upwardly, therefore also acts `to keep the retaining ring 3| seated within its groove. Since the retaining ring 3| is made of the spring steel, there is no possibility of it being jarred out of place during operation of the valve. o

In installing the Valve B operatively in the seat member A, it is only necessary to insert the lower end of the stern 2| into the central bore 6 in the table 2.

It is pointed out that the wall 23 of the body 20 is of the exact length necessary, to allow the lower surface of the flange 25 and the lower end of the wall 23 to seat upon the upper edges of the three webs 3 at the same time the lower surface of the cup-bottom 22 contacts the upper surface of the table 2. The shock or blow of the downward moving valve B, is therefore distributed over the entire upper `surface of the table 2, and is also partially borne by the three webs.

As best shown in Figure 3, when the valve B is so seated at 'the lower end of its stroke, neither the tapered outer surface of the flange 25, nor the rtapered outer surface of the sealing element 21 are in contact with the seating surface 5 of ythe seat member A. Consequently, `the seating surface 5 is not called upon to withstand any portion of the hammer which is created by the downwardly moving valve B.

When the assembly is operatively installed in a mud-pump, there is a downward acting fluid force which drives the valve B toward its seated position. This fluid force acts upon the upper surface of the sealing element 21, in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 4, and is sufcient to bend the outer portion of the sealing element 21 `downwardly into sealing engagement with the seating -surface 5. Figure 4 illustrates the sealing element 21 when its outer portion is bent downwardly into such position.

As stated hereinabove, the blow of halting the downward movement of the valve B is distributed over the upper surfaces of the table 2 and the webs 3. In the present structure, the force of such a blow is dampened by the action of the fluid being trapped temporarily in the pocket formed between the lower surface of the cupbottom 22, and the upper surfaces of the table 2.

The fluid thus-trapped may escape from between the two surfaces by traveling outwardly along the grooves 8, and thence downwardly through the slots 9. The fluid capacity of the grooves 8 and slots 9, may of course, be varied in manufacture, in order to suitably regulate the speed with which the valvel B is permitted vto reach its termination.

During operation of the valve B, the helical grooves 24 in the surface of the stem 2| are lled with pump fluid. Therefore, the force 0f the well fluid upon the grooves 24 acts tocreate a partial rotative movement of the valve upon each stroke thereof. This eliminates any tendency of the seating surface 5 and the outer edge of the flange 25 to become couplementally cut in one place by the abrasive action of the flowing fluid.

From the foregoing description, it is thought to be obvious that a valve assembly has been provided which accomplishes all of the objects and purposes set forth herein.

Obviously, the invention is susceptible to some alteration or change without defeating its practicability. and I therefore do not wish to be conned to the single embodiment illustrated in the drawings and described hereinabove, further than I am limited by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In a valve and seat assembly for pumps, the combination of an annular metal valve seat member having an upstanding central boss sur- Irounded by radially spaced flow passages for uid, and having an axial bore therethrough; an annular upwardly presented conical valve seating surface formed in said seat member and surrounding said passages; a valve stem reciprocatably mounted in said bore; a valve head integral with the stem at a point intermediate the ends thereof, said head having va downwardly Ipresented cup-shaped recess for closely nesting the boss upon each downward stroke of the head; a rigid annular flange integral with and outstanding from the head for seating upon the smaller lower portion of said conical seating surface; a resilient annular sealing element surrounding said head and resting upon said flange for sealing with the upper larger portion of said conical seating surface; a rigid metal ring dis- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the lle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 322,270 Engel July 14, 1-885 524,049 Schutte Aug. 7, 1894 693,513 Gulland Feb. 18, 1902 1,327,564 McDougall Jan. 6, 1920 1,484,997 Rossiter Feb. 26, 1924 2,021,351 Carson Nov. 19, 1935 2,061,480 Pigott Nov. 17, 1936 2,197,455 Volpin Apr. 16, 1940 2,402,713 Volpin June 25, 1946 

